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November 2, 2026
Please send items for the Coffee Break (employee) or Solutions (student) newsletters to newsletter@sage.edu by the end-of-day Wednesday.
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☕ Join Coffee Hour, Wednesday, 9 a.m., for updates from The Aphasia Center. Access the Zoom link and other Coffee Hour resources.
📢 Please share with students: Registration is open for the November 4 and 6 online Internship Search Workshops with the Career and Self-Discovery Center.
1️⃣ One more thing to share with students: Encourage them to jump on one of the several graduate program virtual info sessions this week and beyond, including Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism, Education, the MBA, Organization Management, Criminal Justice and Community Corrections and Forensic Mental Health, Mental Health Counseling and Community Psychology, and Nursing.
🌐 From Every Campus A Refuge: ECAR is offering a workshop series on ways to support refugees. Sessions are Fridays 9-10 a.m. and begin November 6. Find information on this flyer from ECAR, which includes a schedule and links to sign up for each week.
🗓️ The Engage for Change conference for college and nonprofit leaders is Thursday, December 3, at Union College. Registration details for this annual community engagement conference are coming soon — please save the date!
🧯Public Safety will conduct a Pod Burn on November 3 at 2:30 p.m. outside of Froman on the Albany campus. The burn will allow Criminal Justice students to learn how fires spread, how firefighters intervene, and how fire investigations are conducted.
⏰ Tour ACPHS on Wednesday, November 4, 3:05 p.m. Meet at the O’Brien Building.
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From Advancement: 11th Annual SageGives Breaks Record
On Tuesday, September 29, the Russell Sage College community celebrated the 11th annual SageGives challenge. A record-breaking 1,359 donors participated, raising an all-time high grand total of $232,584.95!
Advancement extends its gratitude to everyone who participated, especially the 111 Sage employees who contributed $16,231.84.
There were several matching challenges from employees. A big thank you to:
- Dr. Erin Elkins & Mr. Mark Elkins
- President Shaftel and Dr. Jen Murphy
- Dr. Geoff Miller
- Members of Sage’s Cabinet (who had 100% participation!)
Advancement also shouted out several partner departments that helped contribute to the success of the day: Athletics, Physical Therapy, the Denise Taber Finard ’80 Women’s Institute, the Esteves School of Education, Marketing and Communications, the Aphasia Center, and Visual Arts.
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Highlights from the Denise Taber Finard ’80 Women’s Institute
🌿 The Women’s Institute’s 2025-2026 annual report is available [PDF].
🌿 Advisory Board member Dr. Jen Murphy spoke about the institute’s Leadership Development program at the Times Union’s Women@Work October breakfast (pictured). Module 3 of the Leadership program begins November 9 and there is still time to register.
🌿 The Women’s Institute partnered with the Career & Self-Discovery Center and the Alumni Association to pair student ambassadors with alumnae mentors. The institute’s executive director Dr. Eileen V. Brownell recognized Career and Self-Discovery Center Director Carleen Pallante, Chief Values Officer Dr. Geoff Miller, and alumnae volunteers for their work on this initiative in a recent newsletter.
🌿 The newsletter also recognized the Career & Self-Discovery Center’s Jennifer Morrill, who led a session for the institute’s student-ambassadors on LinkedIn optimization, networking, and defining their professional brand.
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Club Spotlight: Gator Productions
Gator Productions, one of Russell Sage’s newest clubs, may have been founded by Musical Theatre majors, but it’s for students from any discipline. Read about Gator Productions on Sage.edu.
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Student-Research Spotlight: Rose Beberwyck
Psychology major Rose Beberwyck is examining how coping styles impact psychological well-being to better support gender and sexual minority populations in mental health settings. She spoke with Professor Kate Kagan about how conference presentations and internships have helped her connect her college experience to her career goals. Read the Q&A.
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TECH CHECK FROM IT: Beware of Intruders! Not Everything Is What It Seems
The Cyber-Citadel has a new kind of intruder. Artificial intelligence can help cybercriminals create convincing emails, images, voices, and messages that appear to come from someone you trust. A message can look perfect, sound professional, and still be a trap.
🔎 Look beyond appearances. An unexpected request, unusual urgency, unfamiliar sender, or request for access should make you stop and verify.
🎭 Don’t trust a familiar face or voice alone. AI can imitate people. If a request seems unusual, confirm it another way.
🛡️Use AI responsibly. Never enter sensitive or institutional information into an AI service.
This Week’s Quest: Before trusting an unexpected message or request, pause and verify the source — not just how convincing it looks.
Halt. Verify. Tell Someone: The intruders may be getting smarter, but the college’s strongest defense is still you. Together, we can keep the Russell Sage Cyber-Citadel secure.
| | Jay Privott, Alex Pinto, Tasha Pringle, Darlene Tiburcio, and Deanna Cooper from the college’s HEOP office presented “Feeling What Our Students Are Feeling: Navigating Emotional Weight Resilience and Staff Healing in Opportunity Programs” at the New York State Opportunity Program Fall Training Conference at Hamilton College in October. Their presentation explored the emotional demands of student support, the importance of team resilience, and strategies for staff well-being and healing. | |
Wall of Wins!
The OT department shared their appreciation for their director this week!
“A huge shout-out to Occupational Therapy Program Director Erica Dessingue, for the incredible job she is doing! Your dedication, leadership, and tireless efforts to support our students and faculty do not go unnoticed. We appreciate everything you do to keep our program moving forward, often while juggling a million things behind the scenes. Thank you for all that you do! 💚”
Please share a success or shout out a colleague on the Wall of Wins.
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Campus Tours for Employees
Wednesdays, 3:05 p.m., rotating campuses
ACPHS: November 4
(Meet at O’Brien Building)
Russell Sage, Albany: November 11
(Meet at Admissions Building)
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Fire + Light Night
Friday, November 6, 6 p.m.
Art + Design Building, Albany
Visual Arts hosts its 11th annual Fire and Light Night with sculpture burning and projected animations.
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This Weekend at Opalka Gallery
Albany campus
🎵 Friday, November 6: Gallery open until 8 p.m., with music from Belle-Skinner 6:30-7:30 p.m., for Albany’s First Friday celebration of the arts.
✒️ Saturday, November 7, 2 p.m.: Reading and Q&A with award-winning poet Hajar Hussaini ’19 (pictured).
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TIS Teens Present Grease
Through November 8
James L. Meader Little Theatre, Troy
Relive the timeless story of bad boy Danny and new girl Sandy as they fall in love in the original high school musical.
View the performance schedule and purchase tickets at theatre.sage.edu.
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Save the Date for a Super Duper Cool Amazing Spectacular Capstone Art Show
Friday, November 13, 5-7 p.m.
Rathbone Hall, Albany campus
The exhibition celebrates capstone work from Expressive Arts in Mental Health students Olivia Brand, Rowan Brown, Naiya Garvin, Maddie Horner, Vee Schweigert, Abby Thela, Jonathan Wilson, Jordan Wilson, and Emma Wrieden.
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Previously Announced and Recurring Events
💬 Tuesdays: Open Discussion with College Chaplain Darren Gundrum, noon, Buchman, Troy: Bring thoughts, interests, concerns, or listen and enjoy the company.
💲A TIAA financial consultant will be on the Troy campus on November 17, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Cowee, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Schedule your appointment online or by phone at 800-842-2252.
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Fitness Classes
Troy:
Sign up for Dance Fitness: Mondays, 5 p.m., Robison Gym
Sign up for Flexibility and Mobility: Tuesdays, 5 p.m., McKinstry 206
Sign up for Mat Pilates: Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m., McKinstry 206
Sign up for Zumba: Wednesdays, 5:30 p.m., Robison Gym
Albany:
Sign up for Yoga: Mondays, noon, Science 101
| | Send announcements for the Coffee Break employee newsletter and Solutions student newsletter to newsletter@sage.edu. | | | | |
